Brian Schweitzer: Cliven Bundy ‘a grifter’

Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Friday that Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy doesn’t represent Western landowners or even cattlemen, labeling him a “grifter.”

The former rancher and Democratic politician said Bundy, who has become famous for his standoff with federal Bureau of Land Management officials over unpaid grazing fees for his cattle, doesn’t have the support of anyone in the business.

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“You notice there’s no cattlemen that are standing beside Bundy. The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, the stock owner associations from across the West are not with this guy,” Schweitzer said on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” on Friday. “They support what the BLM does. This guy, Bundy, is, I mentioned before, I think he’s a grifter.”

While Bundy has attracted a number of supporters to his side, Schweitzer said they don’t have ranchers’ interests at heart.

“Apparently Bundy has organized a group of ne’er-do-wells from all across this country,” Schweitzer said. “These are not cattlemen; they’re not people of the land. They are just people that want to stir up trouble.”

While federal authorities last weekend ended an armed standoff with Bundy and his supporters and released back cattle they had confiscated on federal land, Schweitzer said the federal government will get its unpaid grazing fees through the courts and through liens on Bundy’s cattle, which he’ll eventually have to sell.

“That is the financial solution to this,” Schweitzer said. “The guy is still a law-breaker and he has thumbed his nose at law enforcement. … The sheriff is a law-abiding citizen and he is law enforcement. Of course he understands there’s a court order that has already been issued against Bundy and he’s going to support that.”

Bundy’s battle against federal officials has rallied supporters to his side, who say it’s an instance of federal overreach and brings up questions about federal land management. On the other hand, Nevada Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has called Bundy’s supporters “domestic terrorists.”